In order to present Kyiv’s case to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, European and Ukrainian officials started a day of negotiations in Paris on Thursday.

The high level diplomacy underlines Europe’s rising worry over the Trump administration’s overtures towards Moscow, after the failure so far of Trump’s efforts to mediate a truce in the three-year-old Russia-Ukraine war.

During their trip to Paris, US officials were also expected to talk about nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Even as his administration has changed US rhetoric to accommodate the Russian narrative of the fight, the US president, who has consistently stated that he wants to end the war in Ukraine quickly, has shown frustration with both Kyiv and Moscow.

Remember how Russia rejected Trump’s ceasefire proposal last month, but Ukraine accepted it?

Both parties accuse one another of breaking the agreement, which solely limits assaults against energy targets and at sea.

In an attempt to convince Washington to adopt a more assertive stance, Kyiv and its European allies blame Moscow for turning down Trump’s ceasefire proposal last month.

Since a Russian attack in the city of Sumy on Sunday that killed civilians, including Ukrainian Christian believers, they have been pressing the case.

Trump stated, “I just want to get it stopped so that we can save a lot of lives.”